SOURCE Magazine, Fall 2019, Volume 2, Issue 1
Total Page：16
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Florida Alligator impressions through the years. 18 Florida Alligator impressions through the years. GAINESVILLE, FL Authors: Melissa Jerome, Project Coordinator, Florida & Puerto Rico Digital Newspaper Project April Hines, Journalism and Mass Communications Librarian INTRO TRACING BACK ALLIGATOR TRACKS When University of Florida graduate and longtime Gainesville resident Ron Perry heard the announcement that UF’s student newspaper, The Alligator, had been digitized and made available online by the George A. Smathers Libraries, the first thing he did was search for Halloween 1971. This was the year a Masquerade Ball was held on the Plaza of the Americas, where more than 2,000 people danced in costume to the music of Mudcrutch —a band led by an up-and-coming artist named Tom Petty. According to The Alligator article covering the event, there were fireworks, tambourines, and balloons flying over the plaza. “I was 16 when I went to this with my older brother,” said Perry. “It was sort of like a mini-Woodstock where I discovered a new world of music.” This was an event he always thought of fondly, and the ability to revisit his past with a few keystrokes was something he never expected. He also found mentions of his father, a well-known professor with the University’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), and even located articles written by his brother, a 1970’s Alligator reporter who went on to become a journalism professor at the University of Alabama. For Perry, searching this new digital collection was similar to opening a time capsule with countless connections to his life. ufdc.ufl.edu/source 19 HISTORY THE BEGINNING For decades, the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida have preserved print and microfilm copies of The Independent Florida Alligator, the largest student-run newspaper in the United States. The paper began printing in 1906 as The University News shortly after the University of Florida opened its campus in Gainesville. During this time, the paper was published semi-monthly. It changed its name to The Florida Alligator in 1912, and by 1915 was being printed by University College of Journalism students on campus in a press room located in the basement of Peabody Hall. It became an official University publication, initially governed by the Faculty Committee on Student Publications and later by the Board of Student Publications. In 1973, the newspaper became independent and began printing under the new title of The Independent Florida Alligator. The Libraries house over 160 microfilm reels at Library West and thousands of print issues in Special Collections for the years 1912 through 2004. Each year the Libraries receive several requests for access to historic issues of The Alligator, expressing interests in researching topics related to development of campus, student government, campus events, student activism, growth of minority groups on campus, and more. 20 FALL 2019 From September 2017 through August 2019, the endowment enabled the digitization of 163 microfilm reels, equating to more than 147,000 pages of issues published from 1912 through 2004. ALLIGATOR DIGITIZATION PROJECT For several years, the Libraries into their own hands without have digitized historic issues of realizing just how much goes into a The Alligator upon request and digitization project of this size. as funds have been available. Said one Alligator alumna who Through a partnership with shared the announcement on Alligator editors, the Libraries Twitter, “When I was at The have also provided access to issues Alligator, I bought a flatbed published from 2005 to present in scanner & started a project to the University of Florida Digital deliver a searchable database Collections (UFDC) Alligator for 90+ years of publications. It collection (ufdc.ufl.edu/alligator). chugged along for years, rightfully However, there were large second to delivering the news. I gaps in the digitized content. Many am SO thrilled to see this finally issues were only available on happening with expert support!!” microfilm or in bound volumes With funding from an endow- housed in Smathers Library or ment, Patrick Reakes, the Project the Alligator Offices. Without an Director and Senior Associate Dean exact date or citation, one would for Scholarly Resources and have to flip through innumerable Services in the Libraries, was able pages or rolls of film hoping to to start The Alligator Digitization stumble across related material. Project, with the goal of providing The inability to search the full text free, online access to all issues of across issues meant that a great The Independent Florida Alligator. deal of information was largely These newly digitized issues hidden from journalists, research- complement the digitized material ers, students, and members of the already available in UFDC, general public. providing access to the complete Previous Alligator staff mem- Alligator archive housed by the bers attempted to take matters Libraries and over 100 years of content. ufdc.ufl.edu/source 21 ALLIGATOR CONTENT The Alligator is a chronicle of the student perspective of the University of Florida and life in Gainesville. Digitization of this archive has unearthed articles about the development of campus, including the construction of many still-standing campus buildings, such as the Florida Gym, the Florida Museum, and Century Tower. Student journalists of The Alligator covered campus life during the World Wars, the shift to a co-ed campus, and the debates leading up to racial integration. The Alligator included reports on activities of student organizations like the Florida Players, Glee Club, and minority groups such as the Hispanic Student Association and the Black Student Union. Stories related to various on-campus fraternities and sororities are also featured. The University’s scholarly output and educational advancements were also covered extensively in The Alligator, including the development of the tutoring center on campus, the Whitney Laboratory’s ground- breaking research on horseshoe crabs, and the influential work of Samuel Proctor, a former UF historian and social sciences professor after whom the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program is named. And of course, one can track the entire evolution of the invention of Gatorade by UF’s Dr. Robert Cade and the controversies that ensued over who should hold the rights to the revolutionary sports drink. The paper has published stories about the origins of many campus traditions, such as the “F” book, Homecoming, and Gator Growl. Coverage of sports such as men’s football, basketball, tennis, and women’s tennis, volleyball, and soccer demonstrates The Alligator’s unwavering interest and support for Gator sports. It also includes student-drawn political and sports-related cartoons. Several ads for Gainesville businesses like Leonardo’s Pizza can be found along with local news coverage of Santa Fe, Silver Springs, and the origins of the Hippodrome State Theatre. One of the most exciting types of coverage that can be found in The Alligator is reporting on nationally known musicians who performed on campus such as the Rolling Stones and Red Hot Chili Peppers as well as famous comedians like Robin Williams and Jerry Seinfeld. Several artists performed at UF before reaching the height of their fame. 22 FALL 2019 Volume 2, Issue 1 WHY IS ACCESS IMPORTANT? Providing a digital archive of more than 100 years of news not only greatly extends access to valuable UF and Gainesville material, but also helps fill a gap in state and national coverage due to what some refer to as the “black hole of newspaper digitization.” While newspapers from the last thirty years or so can often be found in commercial news databases such as Lexis-Nexis, and anything before 1924 is usually the first to be digitized because it is considered part of the public domain, a large amount of news in between is still only available on microfilm. This “black hole” greatly reduces access to news coverage of significant periods in our history such as World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Women’s Liberation Movement. However, thanks to The Alligator Digitization Project, such information is now just a keyword search away, and told from a unique, local, and student perspective. Such access will be greatly appreciated by researchers and authors like Marty Jourard, author of the book Music Everywhere: The Rock and Roll Roots of a Southern Town, which discusses the influential Gainesville Music Scene of the 60’s and 70’s. Said Jourard in response to a Facebook post about the digitization project, “I came from Seattle to Gainesville twice for research on my book and turned every page of every edition from 1963 through 1976 (large bound volumes) and took digital photos of articles of interest. I could not have written the book without those back issues of The Florida Inde- pendent Alligator.” Marty Jourard ufdc.ufl.edu/source 23 Having a searchable project was first Melissa database that reaches being planned, Gomez beyond the paper’s “When we pub- physical copies is also lish stories, we incredibly valuable for do it not only today’s newspaper staff. Alligator to inform the reporters have often turned to public but to their print archives to track down remind them information such as the name of of history. The the first female senator in student digitization of government and the origins of the our archives means future members university’s African American Studies of the Gainesville community will be program. When Richard Spencer able to look back and know how the came to speak at the University of community felt about past events.” Florida in 2017, many wondered if Gomez is now a reporter for the there had been similar controversial Los Angeles Times. This speaks speakers on campus in the past, and volumes about The Alligator’s how those situations were handled by impressive legacy, which has started UF administration.